Push-type floor mop



l... w. SHAEFER PUSH-TYPE: FLOOR MP Filed oct. '7,- 1957 June 16, 1959 www /17 Mentor-f 4 aulne/70614( 5776629??? United States Patenti Patented June 16, 195,9

PUSH-TYPE FLOOR MOP Lawrence W. Schaefer, Fort Wayne, Ind. Application `October 7, 1957, Serial yNo. 688,479 4 'Claims (Cl. 15-2'21) This invention relates to push-type oor mops, and more particularly to mops. of the type employed in clearing debris` from large floor areas and simultaneously applying a treatment to the lloor.

In buildings having large oor areas, such as coliseums, auditoriums, super-markets and the like, a substantial quantity of debris accumulates on the oor during the course of a day, and the floor is further subjected to heavy traic. It has been customary to clean up such debric by the use of large elongated push-type oor mops; such mops conventionally have string-type mop elements which serve to collect dust and small debris from the door, with the larger debris being pushed ahead of the mop. In the case of wood oors, it has been common practice to saturate these mop elements with a oor treating material, many varieties of such materials being commercially available, and thus a treatment can be applied to the |wood floor simultaneously with the debris removing operation.

In the past, push-type mops known to the applicant have been formed of a single elongated mop supporting element, necessitating pushing ,the debris into small piles or heaps which are subsequently picked up. It yhas thus frequently required several men utilizing the presently available push mops an entire night to clean a large oor area such as that found in a large coliseum. Furthermore, such mops if made in larger sizes have required considerable eort to push, especially when the mop element has been saturated with oor treating material.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide an improved push-type floor mop.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved push-type iloor mop which can be made in larger sizes than mops previously commercially available, and which can be easily maneuvered about the floor to be cleaned.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved push-type door mop which will substantially reduce the time required for floor cleaning with previously available mops of this general type.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawing, and the features of the novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity inthe claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In accordance with the broader aspects of my invention, I provide a push-type oor mop having a rigid substantially V-shaped mop supporting frame adapted to have a mop element secured thereto with handles being secured to the frame and extending yupwardly therefrom, and with castor means secured to the `frame and adapted movably to support the mop on a floor.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of my improved pushtype ioor mop;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the apex of the V formed by the two mop supporting frame members of my improved push-type Hoor mop, and the mounting of the middle castor thereon;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View showing my improved pushtype oor mop in an inverted position;

Fig. 5 shows my improved push type oor mop in its tilted position for dumping debris which has accumulated in the pouch; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6 6l of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, my improved push-type floor mop, generally identified as 1, comprises a rigid sub-y stantially V-shaped mop supporting frame assembly 2, frame assembly 2 preferably being formed by a pair of mop supporting frame members 3 and 4, rigidly secured together to define a substantially V-shaped coniiguration. Mop supporting elements 3 and 4 may be formed as elongated wooden elements having a subtsantially rectangular cross-section, as best seen in Fig. 2. A shaggy, string-type mop element 5 may be attached to lthe mop supporting members 3 and 4 by means such as ties 6, `as shown.

Mop supporting members 3 and 4 may conveniently be rigidly secured together by means of a triangularshaped plate 7 respectively secured to the members 3 and 4 in any suitable manner, as by screws 8. A handle assembly 9 is provided rigidly secured to the mop supporting frame assembly 2, the handle assembly 9 including a pair of spaced-apart handles 10 and 11 respectively' rigidly joined to plate numbers 12 and 13, which in turn' are secured to the upper surfaces of mop supporting members 3 and 4 in any suitable manner, as by screws 14. The spaced-apart push-handles 10 and 11 and the interconnecting transverse members such as 15 and 16A may conveniently be formed of suitable thin-wall'tubing,- such as aluminum, in order to contribute to the over-all lightness of the complete assembly. f

In order to facilitate pushing the mop 1 on a floor, I provide a central castor-supporting member 17 rigidly secured to the apex of the member 7 joining the mop) supporting members 3 and 4, the castor supporting mem? ber 17 extending rearwardly from the joining member 'l and being secured thereto in any suitable manner, as 'by welding. A central castor member 18 is secured to the castor supporting member 17 adjacent its outer end and depending therefrom. A pair of outboard castor supporting members 19 and 20 are further provided respe,cV tively secured to and extending rearwardly from the mop supporting members 3 and 4; the outboard castor sup? porting members 19 and 20 may conveniently be con,- nected to the plate members 12 and 13 as by fwelding.y Outboard castors 21 and 22 are respectively connected to the outer ends of the outboard castor supporting members 19 and 2@ and respectivey depend therefrom. ,It will now be seen that my improved push-type mop is movably supported on the oor by means of the three castors 18, 21 and 22 and thus can be pushed around the iioor thereby to accumulate trash and debris and to apply oor treatment material with an absolute minimum of efort. Furthermore, the provision of the castors 18, 21 and 22 permits the mop 1 to be made in a much larger size than previously available mops of this type and in an actual mop I have constructed in accordance with this invention, the mop elements 3 and 4 are respectively three feet long and the'distance between the outer .ex-V tremities of the mop members 3 and 4 is ve feet thus` indicating that my improved mop can bevused to y clean debris from and apply treatment to a path or swathe of the floor ve feet wide.

In order further to prevent trash and debris which is accumulated in the V defined by the mop supporting members 3 and 4 from passing or falling over the mop supporting frame assembly 2, a pouch 23 formed, for example, of canvas, is provided. Pouch 23 is formed so that its marginal edge 24 conforms to the upper surfaces of mop supporting members 3 and 4 and is preferably removable secured thereto in a suitable manner, asV by snaps 25. The upper extremities of pouch 23 are secured to elements of the handle assembly 9, such as transverse members 15 in any convenient manner, such as by ties 26. 'I'he pouch 23 may be relatively taut so that it merely prevents debris and trash from passing over the top of the mop, or alternatively, it may actually take the form of a bag for collection of debris and subsequent removal and dumping of such debris.

In the operation of my improved oor mop, the mop is pushed across the oor with the debris and trash accumulatng between the mop supporting members 3 and 4 and against the pouch 23, and when a sufficiently large accumulation of trash and debris has been made, the mop may be tilted upwardly as shown in Fig. 5 thereby to deposit the accumulation in a pile for subsequent collection and removal. It will be observed that the rigid V-shaped configuration of my improved floor mop permits the accumulation of trash toward the apex of the V and further that the mop may be used in the immediate proximity ofa side wall or in a corner. Furthermore, the rigid construction of the V-shaped mop supporting assembly permits dumping of the trash and accumulated debris from the mop, as best seen in Fig. 5. It will further be observed that the provision of castors supporting the mop on the fioor permits the mop to be manufactured in much larger sizes than any mops presently provided, and further greatly facilitates and expedites the cleaning of a large oor area.

While I have described and illustrated a specific embodiment of this invention, further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art, and I desire that it be understood therefore that this invention is not limited to the specific form shown, and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A push-type floor mop comprising: a pair of elongated mop-supporting frame members rigidly secured together to define a substantially V-shaped configuration; a string-type dust mop element secured to said frame members; a pair of parallel, spaced-apart handles respectively rigidly secured to said frame members and extending upwardly therefrom for manually pushing said mop; a first castor supporting member secured to said frame members at the apex of said V and extending rearwardly therefrom; a first castor depending from said rst castor supporting member; a pair of castor supporting members respectively secured to said frame members and spaced from said first castor supporting member, said pair of castor supporting members respectively extending rearwardly from said frame members; and a pair of castors respectively depending from said pair of castor supporting members; said castors being adapted movably to support said mop on a floor.

2. A push-type floor mop comprising: a pair of elongated mop-supporting frame members rigidly secured together to define a substantially V-shaped configuration; a string-type dust mop element secured to said frame members; a pair of parallel, spaced-apart handles respectively rigidly secured to said frame members and extending upwardly therefrom for manually pushing said mop; a first castor supporting member secured to said frame members at the apex of said V and extending rearwardly therefrom; a first castor depending from said first castor supporting member; a pair of outboard castor supporting members respectively secured to said frame members and spaced from said first castor supporting member, said pair of castor supporting members respectively extending rearwardly from said frame members; a pair of castors respectively depending from said pair of castor supporting members; said castors movably supporting said mop on a oor; and a fabric pouch having a marginal edge removably secured to the upper surfaces of said frame members on either side of said apex, said pouch having its upper extremity removably secured to said handles thereby vto collect trash and prevent the same from passing over said frame members.

3. A push-type oor mop comprising: a pair of elongated mop-supporting frame members rigidly secured together to define a substantially V-shaped configuration; a string-type mop element secured to said frame members; handle means rigidly secured to said frame members and extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom for manually pushing said mop forwardly thereby to accumulate trash between said frame members; a first castor supporting member secured to said frame members at the apex of said V and extending rearwardly therefrom; va first castor depending from said first castor supporting member; a pair of outboard castor supporting members respectively secured to said frame members and spaced from said first castor supporting member, said pair of castor supporting members respectively extending rearwardly from said frame members; and a pair of castors respectively depending from said pair of castor supporting members; said castors movably supporting said mop on a door.

4. A push-type oor mop comprising: a pair of elongated mop-supporting frame members rigidly secured together to dene a substantially V-shaped configuration; a string-type mop element secured to said frame members; handle means rigidly secured to said frame members and extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom formanually pushing said mop thereby to accumulate trash between said frame members; a first castor supporting member secured to said frame members at the apex of said V and extending rearwardly therefrom; a first castor depending from said first castor supporting member; a pair of outboard castor supporting members respectively secured to said frame members and spaced from said first castor supporting member, said pair of castor supporting members respectively extending rearwardly from said frame members; a pair of castors respectively depending from said pair of castor supporting members; said castors movably supporting said mop on a licor; and a fabric pouch having a marginal edge removably secured to the upper surfaces of said frame members on either side of said apex, said pouch having its upper extremity removably secured to said handle means thereby to collect said trash and to prevent the same from passing over said frame members.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 552,980 Billingsley lan. 14, 1896 1,320,260 Matthews Oct. 28, 1919 1,349,680 Link Aug. 17, 1920 1,626,742 Lockwood May 3, 1927 1,975,935 Glover Oct. 9, 1934 2,226,817 Hranicka Dec. 3l, 1940 2,740,147 Bailey Apr. 3, 1956 2,756,453 Mattson July 31, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,455 Great Britain of 1859 4,095 France Dec. 10, 1836 

